Wairarapa Road Safety Council Takes Its Story to the National Stage
Wairarapa Road Safety Council Takes Its Story to the National Stage
Celebrating connection, collaboration, and community voice in road safety
It has been a busy and rewarding few weeks for the Wairarapa Road Safety Council. From a national professional development forum in Auckland to a community network meeting in Masterton, the team has had the privilege of sharing the Wairarapa’s road safety story with audiences near and far — and the conversations it has sparked are a reminder of just how much good work is happening across the motu.
Representing Wairarapa at a National Forum
The Safety and Sustainable Travel Aotearoa (SASTA) Professional Development workshop was held on 21–22 May 2026 at Auckland Transport — a two-day gathering that brought together road safety and sustainable travel professionals from across New Zealand under the theme “Challenge the Now, Inspire the Next.”
SASTA is the peak professional body for road safety and sustainable travel practitioners in Aotearoa New Zealand. It provides members with opportunities to connect, learn, and advocate for safer roads and communities. The Wairarapa Road Safety Council is a proud SASTA member, and this year’s forum was a reminder of why that membership matters — the calibre of people working in this space, and the generosity with which they share their knowledge, is genuinely inspiring. Find out more at www.sasta.org.nz.
“Being in a room with so many passionate, skilled road safety advocates from around the country is always grounding. You come away reminded that we’re all working toward the same goal, and that the work we do in Wairarapa genuinely belongs on that national stage.”
— Holly Hullena, Wairarapa Road Safety Council
The two-day programme featured keynote addresses, agency updates from the Ministry of Transport and Waka Kotahi NZTA, and a wide range of presentations from practitioners around the country. Topics ranged from workplace travel planning and school safety programmes to motorcycle licensing and event safety — a rich snapshot of the breadth of work happening in road safety today.
Pilot Road Safety Webpages: Giving Wairarapa a Voice
On the first day of the forum, the Wairarapa Road Safety Council had the opportunity to present. The presentation showcased a pilot project integrating partner webpages into a shared road safety web presence — an initiative that reflects the collaborative spirit at the heart of what the Council does.
The presentation demonstrated how agencies working together can create something greater than the sum of their parts: a community-facing resource that is more visible, more useful, and more connected than anything a single organisation could produce alone. It was a small but meaningful example of what genuine partnership looks like in practice.
“The pilot webpage project is really about making it easier for our community to find the right information at the right time. When agencies join up their resources and their messaging, the public benefits — and that’s always the point.”
— Holly Hullena, Wairarapa Road Safety Council
Presenting to a national audience of peers is a valuable exercise in itself — it holds you to account, invites fresh perspectives, and opens doors to connections you wouldn’t otherwise make. The Wairarapa story resonated, and the conversations that followed were a highlight of the event.
A Nomination to be Proud Of
The SASTA awards ceremony, held on the morning of Friday 22 May, recognised the outstanding contributions of road safety practitioners across Aotearoa. Awards included the Cedric Rogers Award, which honours individual leadership and innovation, and the Kotahitanga Award — named for the Māori concept of unity, solidarity, and working together.
The Wairarapa Road Safety Council was nominated for the Kotahitanga Award, which recognises a team, project, or individual that has demonstrated a genuine commitment to fostering relationships, building unity, and bringing people together toward common goals in road safety and sustainable travel.
While the team didn’t take home the award this year, being nominated at all felt significant. There is a great deal of talent and dedication across the SASTA membership, and to be considered among them is something to be quietly proud of.
“We didn’t win, and that’s completely okay — the people in that room are doing incredible work. Being nominated was a lovely acknowledgement that what we’re doing in Wairarapa is being noticed, and that’s encouragement enough to keep going.”
— Holly Hullena, Wairarapa Road Safety Council
Bringing It Home: Wairarapa Community Network Meeting
Just days after returning from Auckland, the Wairarapa Road Safety Council had another opportunity to share its story — this time, closer to home. On Tuesday 26 May, the same community profile presentation was delivered to the Wairarapa Community Network meeting in Masterton.
The Wairarapa Community Network brings together social sector agencies from across the region to connect, share information, and collaborate. Presenting to this group was a chance to give road safety a voice in a broader community conversation — and a reminder that road safety doesn’t exist in isolation. It touches health, housing, employment, education, and so much more.
“Road safety is a community issue. Presenting to the Wairarapa Community Network felt like a natural fit — these are the agencies who see the whole picture of people’s lives, and having them understand what we do and how we can work together makes a real difference.”
— Holly Hullena, Wairarapa Road Safety Council
If you are an agency working in the social sector and would like to connect with others doing similar mahi across Wairarapa, the Wairarapa Community Network meetings are open to you. Find out more and join the conversation at the Wairarapa Community Networks contact Annette Beattie manager@wcn.org.nz
